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EXERCISES  AT  THE  OPENING 


,  Jame^  Blae^^tone  Memorial  h\iMi 


BRANKORD,  CONN 


'June  17,  i8p6 


NEW  HAVEN: 

The  Tuttle,  Morehouse  &  Taylor   Press 

1897 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Introductory  Note, 7 

Act  of  Incorporation, 9 

Program  of  the  Exercises, 13 

Address   by   the   President   of   the    Board    of   Incorpo- 
rators, Edward  F.  Jones, 15 

Monograph — James    Bi^ackstone    and    his    Famh,y.      Hon. 

Lynde  Harrison 19 

Address — ^The   Library  as   an   Educational,   Force.     Prof. 

Arthur  T.  Hadi,ey,  of  Yai,e  University,  ....  27 
Address  to  the  Chii,dren — The  Library,  Branford's  Crown. 

Rev.  M.  K.  BaiIvEy, 39 

Description  of  the  Building, 49 

Description  of  the  Paintings  in  the  Dome,    ....  53 


2GM8S© 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Page 
The  James  Blackstone  Memorial  Library,      .         .        Frontispiece 

Portrait  of  Timothy  B.  Blackstone, 15 

Portrait  of  James  Blackstone, 19 

Bronze  Entrance  Doors, 27 

Book  Stack, 29 

Reading  Room, 33 

Rotunda,  showing  entrance  to  Lecture  Room,      ...  37 

Lecture  Room, 39 

Stair  Case, 43 

Corridor  of  the  Rotunda, 45 

Paintings  in  the  Dome, 47 

• 49 

51 

53 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE. 


The  James  Blackstone  Memorial  IvIbrary,  of  Branford, 
is  the  gift  of  Timothy  B.  Blackstone  of  Chicago,  to  his  native 
town.  To  his  purpose  that  nothing  should  be  wanting  to  its 
completeness,  and  that  it  should  be  at  the  same  time  a  worthy 
memorial  of  his  father,  whose  name  it  bears,  the  architect's 
description  of  the  building  and  the  accompanying  illustrations 
abundantly  testify.  Just  what  the  building  has  cost  we  have 
not  been  permitted  to  know,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  with  the 
generous  endowment  for  the  maintenance  and  increase  of  the 
library  the  whole  gift  cannot  fall  much  short  of  half  a  million 
dollars. 

The  library,  a  catalogue  of  which  has  been  printed  since  the 
opening,  consists  substantially  of  the  5,000  volumes  selected  by 
the  American  Library  Association  for  a  popular  library,  with 
1,500  additional  volumes. 

Branford,  July,  1897. 


ACT  OF  INCORPORATION 

OF  the; 
James  Blackstone  Memorial  Library  Association. 


Section  i.  That  T.  F.  Hammer,  Edward  F.  Jones,  C.  W. 
Gaylord,  Edmund  Zacher,  William  Regan,  Henry  W.  Hub- 
bard, and  their  successors,  as  hereinafter  provided,  be,  and 
they  hereby  are  constituted  a  body  politic  and  corporate  by  the 
name  of  the  James  Blackstone  Memorial  Library  Association, 
to  be  located  in  the  town  of  Branford,  and  by  that  name  shall 
have  perpetual  succession,  and  may  sue  and  be  sued  in  all 
courts  and  places  whatsoever  ;  may  have  and  use  a  common 
seal,  and  alter  the  same  at  pleasure  ;  and  may  take,  receive, 
and  hold,  either  by  purchase,  gift,  or  devise,  or  otherwise,  any 
estate,  real  or  personal,  which  may  be  used,  or  the  income 
from  which  shall  be  used  for  the  purposes  for  which  said  cor- 
poration is  established  ;  and  it  may  invest,  use,  appropriate, 
convey,  and  dispose  of  the  same  at  pleasure,  for  the  purposes 
hereinafter  set  forth  ;  provided,  however,  that  it  shall  not  have 
power  to  sell,  convey,  mortgage,  or  dispose  of  any  real  estate, 
or  the  buildings  theron,  which  may  be  conveyed  to  it  for  the 
purposes  of  a  library,  reading  room  or  lecture  hall  ;  and  pro- 
vided fiirther ,  that  all  real  estate  held  b3r  said  corporation  shall 
be  subject  to  any  conditions  or  provisions  contained  in  the 
deeds  or  instruments  conveying  such  estate  to  said  corporation. 

Sec.  2.  The  librarian  of  Yale  University  shall,  ex-officio,  be 
a  member  of  said  corporation.  If  the  person  holding  the  office 
of  librarian   of  Yale  University  shall  at  any  time  decline  to 


lO  PROCEEDINGS   AT   THE   PUBLIC   OPENING 

act,  the  other  members  of  the  corporation  ma)'-  appoint  the 
person  who  may  at  such  time  be  assistant  librarian  of  Yale 
University  to  act  with  them,  until  such  time  as  the  person 
holding  the  office  of  librarian  shall  consent  to  serve. 

Sec.  3.  The  purposes  for  which  said  corporation  is  created 
are  to  establish  and  maintain  a  public  library  and  reading- 
room,  and  in  its  discretion  a  lecture  hall,  gymnasium,  and 
rooms  for  purposes  of  science  and  art,  in  the  town  of  Branford. 

Sec.  4.  Said  corporation  shall  have  power  to  make  and 
adopt  such  b5'-laws  and  regulations  as,  in  its  judgment,  may 
be  necessary  for  electing  its  officers  and  defining  their  duties, 
and  for  the  management,  safe-keeping,  and  protection  of  its 
property  and  funds,  and  from  time  to  time  to  alter  or  repeal 
such  by-laws,  rules,  and  regulations,  and  to  adopt  others  in 
their  place.  Said  corporation  may  appoint  and  emplo}^  from 
time  to  time  such  agents  and  emplo5^es  as  its  officers  may  deem 
necessary  for  the  efficient  administration  and  conduct  of  the 
library  and  other  affairs  of  the  corporation.  The  provisions  of 
any  will,  deed,  or  other  instrument  by  which  endowment  is 
given  to  said  association  and  accepted  by  the  same,  shall,  as  to 
such  endowment,  be  a  part  of  this  act  of  incorporation.  The 
managers  of  said  association  shall  not  have  power  to  invest  any 
of  its  propert}'  or  funds,  except  in  accordance  with  the  pro- 
visions of  an)^  instrument  of  endowment,  or  in  accordance  with 
the  general  laws  of  the  State  of  Connecticut  controlling  invest- 
ments by  savings  banks,  but  may  accept  donations,  and  in  their 
discretion  hold  the  same  in  the  form  in  which  they  are  given, 
for  the  purposes  for  which  said  corporation  is  created.  It  shall 
be  the  dut}'^  of  said  corporation,  b)'^  its  proper  officers,  to  render 
in  the  month  of  Januar}^  in  each  year,  to  the  Governor  of  the 
State  of  Connecticut,  an  account  of  the  income  and  expendi- 
tures of  said  corporation,  for  the  year  ending  on  the  31st  of 
December  preceding,  together  with  an  inventory  of  the  assets 
and  investments  of  the  same  in  detail,  and  in  the  event  that 
such  an  account  shall  not  be  so  rendered  the  state  attorney  for 
the  count}^  of  New  Haven  shall  have  power,  in  the  name  of  the 
State  of  Connecticut,  to  compel  the  officers  of  said  corporation 
to  file  such  account  with  the  governor.  None  of  the  members 
of  said  corporation  shall,  as  such  members  or  officers  of  the 
same,  be  entitled  to  receive  any  compensation  for  services  ren- 


OF   THE  JAMES    BI^ACKSTONE   MEMORIAL   LIBRARY.  II 

dered  for  said  corporation,  or  on  account  of  the  purposes  of  the 
same,  but  they  may  be  allowed  reasonable  charges  for  expenses 
incurred  by  them  in  the  performance  of  their  duties. 

Sec.  5.  All  the  real  and  personal  estate  which  may  be  held 
and  used,  or  the  income  from  which  shall  be  used  by  said  cor- 
poration for  one  or  more  of  the  purposes  for  which  it  is  estab- 
lished, as  defined  in  section  three  of  this  resolution,  shall  be 
free  from  taxation. 

Sec.  6.  Upon  the  death,  resignation,  or  declination  of  any 
one  of  the  persons  named  in  the  first  section  of  this  act,  or  any 
of  their  successors,  the  remaining  members  of  the  corporation 
shall  select  and  appoint  a  suitable  person,  who  shall  be  a  resi- 
dent of  the  town  of  Branford,  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by 
such  death,  resignation,  or  declination. 

Approved  March  23,  1893. 


PROGRAM. 


Public  Exercises  at  the  dedication  of  the  James  Blackstone 
Memorial  I^ibrary,  12.30  p.  m.,  June  17th,  1896. 

Opening  Address, 

Edward  F.  Jones,  President  of  the  Board  of  Incorporators 
Prayer, 

Rev.  Timothy  DwighT,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  President  of  Yale  University 
Song — Their  sun  shall  no  more  go  down,  .  Caroi.  Club,  Bradford 
Monograph — James  Blackstone  and  Family,  .  Hon.  Lynde  Harrison 
Song — Welcome  to  This  Place,  .  .  .  Carol  Club,  Branford 
Address — The  Library  as  an  Educational  Force, 

Prof.  Arthur  T.  Hadley,  of  Yale  University 
Song — "  Auld  Lang  Syne, "  ....  Carol  Club,  Branford 
Benediction, REV.  T.  S.  Devitt,  D.D. 


Exercises  for  the  children  of  the  public  schools  were  held  in 
the  Iyibrar>^  at  an  earlier  hour  with  the  following  program  : 

Prayer, Rev.  P.  G.  WighTman 

Song  by  the  Children — Hark  !  the  Song  of  Jubilee. 

Dedication  Ode, Margaret  T.  B.  Callahan 

Song  by  the  Children — Our  Holiday. 

Address— The  Library,  Branford's  Crown,      .         .      Rev.  M.  K.  BailEy 

Song  by  the  Children — America. 

Benediction, Rev.  T.  S.  Devitt,   D.D. 


TIMOTHY    B.    BLACKSTONE. 


ADDRESS 
By  EDWARD   F.    JONES, 
President   op   Board  of    Incorporators. 
Citizens  of  Branford^  Ladies  and  Ge^itle^nen  : 

We  very  much  regret  the  unavoidable  absence  to- 
day of  Mr,  and  Mrs.  Blackstone,  owing  to  arrange- 
ments made  some  time  ago,  which  takes  them  from 
their  home  at  a  time  when  their  presence  here  would 
be  so  gratifying  to  us  all. 

The  earliest  record  we  have  of  the  founding  of  any 
library  or  institution  of  learning  in  Branford  dates 
back  nearly  two  centuries,  when  in  the  year  1700  ten 
Connecticut  clergymen, — as  we  learn  from  President 
Clap's  "  History  of  Yale  College,"—''  met  at  New 
Haven,  and  formed  themselves  into  a  body  or  society, 
to  consist  of  eleven  ministers  including  a  Rector,  and 
agreed  to  found  a  college  in  the  Colony  of  Connecticut, 
which  they  did  at  their  next  meeting  at  Branford  in 
the  following  manner,  namely  :  each  member  brought 
a  number  of  books  and  presented  them  to  the  body, 
and  laying  them  on  the  table,  said  these  words,  or  to 
this  effect :    '  I   give  these  books  for  the  founding  a 


l6  PROCEEDINGS    AT    THE    PUBLIC    OPENING 

college  in  tliis  Colon}'.'  Then  the  trustees  as  a  body 
took  possession  of  them  and  appointed  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Russel,  of  Branford,  to  be  the  keeper  of  the 
librar}',  which  then  consisted  of  abont  forty  volnmes 
in  folio.  Soon  after  they  received  sundry  other  dona- 
tions, both  of  books  and  mone}^,  which  laid  a  good 
foundation.  This  library,  with  the  additions,  was 
kept  at  Branford  in  a  room  set  apart  for  that  purpose 
near  three  3'ears,  and  then  it  was  carried  to  Killing- 
worth." 

The  giving  of  these  books  at  Branford  v/as  the  be- 
ginning of  what  is  to-day  the  great  University  at  New 
Haven.  Whether  an}''  of  the  books  can  be  found  to- 
day on  the  shelves  of  the  Yale  University  Library  I 
am  unable  to  say. 

Since  that  early  period  Branford  has  had  several 
libraries,  all  of  which,  for  one  cause  or  another,  ceased 
to  exist. 

Early  in  1890  a  few  gentlemen  met  at  the  home  of 
one  of  their  number  for  the  purpose  of  forming  them- 
selves into  a  committee  or  association  to  solicit  contri- 
butions for  a  fund  to  be  used  for  building  and  furnish- 
ing with  books  a  free  public  library.  Their  efforts 
were  heartily  seconded  by  our  citizens  generally,  and 
it  is  pleasant  to  record  that  they  met  with  greater 
success  than  perhaps  might  reasonably  have  been 
expected. 

In  their  endeavor  to  raise  the  necessary  means  for 
the  building  and  the  books  with  which  to  start  a 
library,  it  was  suggested  that  invitations  to  contribute 


OF  THE  JAMES   BLACKSTONE   MEMORIAI,  LIBRARY.  1 7 

for  this  purpose  be  extended  to  such  non-resident 
natives  of  Branford  as  they  felt  might  be  willing  and 
pleased  to  contribute  to  so  laudable  an  undertaking. 

Among  the  number  so  invited  was  a  gentleman,  a 
native  of  Branford,  of  a  family  well  and  favorably 
known  to  many  now  present,  a  gentleman  now  a  well- 
known  and  respected  citizen  of  a  great  Western  city, 
a  gentleman  well  known  for  his  great  liberality  and 
generosity,  and,  I  may  add,  a  gentleman  unwilling 
his  name  should  be  inscribed  on  this  grand  structure, 
lest  some  might  feel  that  it  is  not  a  public  library  in 
the  most  complete  sense  of  the  term.  This  gentleman, 
in  replying  to  the  committee,  suggested  that  if  it 
would  be  agreeable  to  the  committee  he  would  be  glad 
to  undertake  to  erect  a  building,  furnish  it  with  a 
liberal  supply  of  books,  and  present  it  to  the  citizens 
of  Branford,  a  free  public  library,  as  a  memorial  to  his 
father,  the  late  Captain  James  Blackstone. 

We  meet  to-day  in  this  magnificent  building  to 
dedicate  it  to  the  use  for  which  it  has  been  erected  and 
presented  to  the  citizens  of  his  native  to^vn  by  the 
munificence  of  Timothy  B.  Blackstone,  of  Chicago, 
Illinois. 


JAMES   BLACKSTONE. 


MONOGRAPH. 

James  Bi^ackstone  and  his  Family. 
By  LYNDK  HARRISON. 
Mr.  President^  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

While  tlie  primary  purpose  of  the  generous  donor 
of  this  building,  and  its  endowment  fund,  is  to  benefit 
the  people  of  the  town  of  Branford,  it  will  never  be 
forgotten  that  it  serves  also  as  a  memorial  to  Hon. 
James  Blackstone,  who  spent  his  long  life  of  ninet}^- 
three  years  in  this  town,  where  he  was  born,  and  to 
the  welfare  of  which  he  devoted  so  much  time  during 
the  years  of  his  young  and  mature  manhood.  For 
nearly  two  centuries,  the  Blackstone  family  has  occu- 
pied a  conspicuous  place  in  this  community,  and  for 
the  same  length  of  time,  representatives  of  the  family 
have  been  tillers  of  the  soil,  the  title  to  which  has 
always  been  in  a  Blackstone. 

We  cannot  properly  dedicate  this  building  to  the 
purposes  for  which  it  is  intended  without  calling  your 
attention  briefly  to  James  Blackstone,  his  life,  his  fam- 
ily, and  his  ancestors.  He  was  born  in  Branford  in 
1793,  in  a  house  located  opposite  that  home,  which 


20  PROCEEDINGS    AT   THE   PUBLIC   OPENING 

was  during  nearly  his  whole  life  his  residence,  and 
where  he  died  on  the  4th  of  February,  1886.  His 
first  ancestor  in  this  country  was  Rev.  William  Black- 
stone,  a  graduate  in  161 7  of  Knianuel  College,  Cam- 
bridge, He  received  Episcopal  ordination  in  England 
after  graduation,  but  like  John  Davenport,  of  New 
Haven,  he  soon  became  of  the  Puritan  persuasion,  left 
his  native  country  on  account  of  his  non-conformity, 
and  became  the  first  white  settler  upon  that  famous 
neck  of  land,  opposite  Charlestown,  which  is  now  the 
city  of  Boston.  When  the  Massachusetts  Company 
came  to  New  England,  they  found  William  Blackstone 
settled  on  that  peninsula.  He  had  been  there  long 
enough  to  have  planted  an  orchard  of  apple  trees. 
Upon  his  invitation,  the  principal  part  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Colony  removed  from  Charlestown,  and 
founded  the  town  of  Boston,  on  land  which  Mr. 
Blackstone  desired  them  to  occupy.  He  was  the  first 
inhabitant  of  Boston,  and  the  Colony  records  of  May 
18,  163 1,  show  that  he  was  the  first  person  admitted  a 
freeman  of  that  town.  His  house  and  orchard  were 
located  upon  a  spot  about  half-way  between  Boston 
Common  and  the  Charles  River.  A  few  years  passed, 
and  the  peculiar  notions  the  Puritans  of  Boston  had  on 
the  subject  of  church  organization  and  government 
satisfied  William  Blackstone  that,  while  he  had  not 
been  able  to  conform  to  the  Church  of  Archbishop 
Laud,  neither  could  he  conform  to  the  Puritan  Church 
of  Boston,  and  when  the  Puritans  invited  him  to  join 
them,   he  constantly  declined,  using  this  language : 


OF  the;   JAMES    BI.ACKSTONE   MEJMORIAI^   I^IBRARY.  21 

"  I  came  from  England  because  I  did  not  like  tlie 
Lord  Bishops ;  but  I  cannot  join  with  you  because  I 
would  not  be  under  the  Lord  Brethren." 

In  1633,  an  agreement  was  entered  into  between 
himself  and  the  other  settlers,  in  the  division  of  the 
lands,  that  he  should  have  fifty  acres  allotted  to  him 
near  his  house  forever.  In  1635  he  sold  forty-four 
of  those  acres  to  the  company  for  thirty  pounds,  retain- 
ing the  six  acres  upon  which  was  his  orchard,  and  soon 
afterwards  he  moved  to  Rhode  Island,  living  near 
Providence  until  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred 
on  the  26th  of  May,  1675.  A  few  years  after  leaving 
Boston,  he  sold  the  orchard  of  six  acres  to  a  man 
named  Pepys.  He  was  not,  in  any  manner,  driven 
away  from  Boston  by  the  Puritan  Fathers,  but  holding 
certain  ideas  which  did  not  agree  with  those  of  his 
neighbors,  he  concluded  to  move  to  a  new  location, 
actuated  by  similar  motives  to  those  which  led  John 
Davenport  to  leave  New  Haven,  and  go  to  Boston 
after  the  union  of  the  New  Haven  Colony  with  the 
Connecticut  Colony  at  Hartford.  All  of  the  accounts 
and  records  of  the  Rev.  William  Blackstone  show  him 
to  have  been  a  religious  man,  with  literary  tastes,  of 
correct,  industrious,  thrifty  habits,  kind  and  philan- 
tropic  feelings,  living  for  several  years  on  Boston  Neck, 
and  demonstrating  the  ability  of  the  white  man  to  live 
in  peace  with  only  Indians  for  his  neighbors.  While 
living  in  Rhode  Island  he  frequently  went  to  Provi- 
dence to  preach  the  Gospel,  and  was  highly  esteemed 
by  all  the  settlers  of  that  Colony.     In  July,  1659,  he 


22  PROCEEDINGS    AT   THE    PUBLIC   OPENING 

married  a  widow  named  Sarah  Stevenson,  and  by  her 
had  one  son,  John  Blackstone.  The  inventory  of  his 
estate  after  his  death  describes  him  as  having  a  house 
and  orchard,  260  acres  of  land,  interests  in  the  Provi- 
dence meadows,  and  a  library  of  one  hundred  and 
eight3^-six  volumes  of  different  languages.  A  river 
of  Rhode  Island  and  a  town  in  Massachusetts  were 
named  Blackstone  in  his  honor. 

His  only  son,  John,  married  in  1692,  and  about  17 13 
moved  to  the  town  of  Branford,  where  he  took  up  his 
residence  on  lands  south-east  of  the  center  of  the  towm, 
and  bounded  southerl}-  on  the  sea. 

The  son  of  this  John  Blackstone  M-as  bom  in  1699, 
and  died  in  Branford,  January  3d,  1785,  aged  nearly 
eighty-six.  His  son,  John  Blackstone,  was  bom  in 
Branford  in  1731,  and  died  August  loth,  1816,  aged 
eighty-five.  The  son  of  this  last  John  Blackstone, 
Timothy  Blackstone,  was  bom  in  Branford  in  1766, 
and  died  in  1849,  ^^  ^^^  ^S^  ^^  eighty-three.  This 
Timothy  Blackstone  was  the  father  of  Hon.  James 
Blackstone,  who  was  born  in  Branford,  in  the  old 
homestead  of  his  father  and  grandfather,  in  1793. 

Here  were  five  generations  of  the  Blackstones  living 
and  d3ang  upon  the  old  famil}-  farm  in  Branford. 
All  of  them  seem  to  have  possessed  mau}^  of  the  traits 
of  their  first  ancestor  in  this  country.  They  were 
noted  for  their  force  of  character,  industr}^,  modesty, 
and  marked  executive  ability.  James  Blackstone,  like 
his  ancestors,  was  a  farmer.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he 
was  elected  a  captain  in  the  Connecticut  Militia,  and  as 


OF   THK   JAMES    BI.ACKSTONE   MEMORIAI,   LIBRARY.  23 

sucli,  commanded  his  company  for  several  months, 
while  serving  as  Coast  Guard  on  Long  Island  Sound, 
during  the  war  of  1812-15.  He  held  at  one  time  or 
another,  during  his  life,  the  important  local  offices  of 
the  town,  such  as  assessor  and  first  selectman.  Before 
the  separation  of  North  Branford  in  183 1,  the  town- 
ship of  Branford,  as  one  of  the  original  towns,  was 
entitled  to  two  representatives  in  the  General  Assem- 
bly, and  on  several  occasions  Captain  James  Black- 
stone,  of  Branford,  and  Captain  Jonathan  Rose,  of 
North  Branford,  were  the  representatives  of  the  town, 
at  Hartford  and  New  Haven.  In  1842  James  Black- 
stone  represented  the  sixth  district  in  the  State  Senate. 
In  politics  he  was  a  Federalist,  a  Whig  and  a  Repub- 
lican. His  advice  and  counsel  were  sought  by  peo- 
ple, not  only  of  his  own  town,  but  of  neighboring 
towns,  when  occasions  arose  concerning  the  settlement 
of  estates,  or  other  matters  where  the  opinion  and 
advice  of  a  man  of  marked  good  judgment  were  needed. 
The  first  time  I  ever  saw  Captain  James  Blackstone, 
he  was  pointed  out  to  me  by  a  resident  of  the  town, 
as  he  was  driving  past  the  old  public  square,  with  the 
remark,  "  That  is  Capt.  James  Blackstone.  When  he 
rises  in  a  town  meeting  and  says  '  Mr.  Moderator,  in 
my  humble  opinion  it  is  better  for  this  town  that  a 
certain  course  be  taken,'  the  expression  of  his  opinion 
always  prevails  with  the  majority  of  the  voters,  in  the 
meeting,  so  great  is  the  confidence  the  people  of  the 
town  have  in  his  judgment."  His  character  and 
remarkable  ability  can  be  easil}^  read  by  any  student 


24  PROCEEDINGS   AT   THE   PUBLIC   OPENING 

of  plij'siognoiii}'  who  will  look  at  the  admirable  life- 
size  portrait  of  him,  now  placed  in  this  building.  If 
his  tastes  had  led  him  to  a  larger  place  for  the  exercise 
of  his  abilit}',  no  field  would  have  been  so  large  that 
he  would  not  have  been  a  leader  among  men. 

Yet  here  he  chose  to  dwell,  performing  his  part  well 
through  the  whole  of  his  long  life.  I  never  knew  a 
man  to  whom  the  description  of  the  good  old  farmer 
Israel,  in  Dr.  Holland's  dramatic  poem  of  Bitter  Sweet, 
so  well  applies. 

"  Here  dwells  the  good  old  farmer,  Israel. 
In  his  ancestral  home — a  Puritan 
Who  reads  his  Bible  daily,  loves  his  God, 
And  lives  serenely  in  the  faith  of  Christ. 
For  three  score  years  and  ten  his  life  has  run 
Through  varied  scenes  of  happiness  and  woe  ; 
But,  constant  through  the  wide  vicissitude, 
He  has  confessed  the  giver  of  his  joys, 
And  kissed  the  hand  that  took  them  ;  and  whene'er 
Bereavement  has  oppressed  his  soul  with  grief, 
Or  sharp  misfortune  stung  his  heart  with  pain. 
He  has  bowed  down  in  childlike  faith,  and  said, 

"  Th}'  will,  O  God — thy  ^-ill  be  done,  not  mine." 

The  donor  of  this  Library  was  the  youngest  son  of 
James  Blackstone.  To  many  of  you  his  history  and 
life  are  well  known.  He  left  the  Bast  more  than  forty 
years  ago  to  pursue  his  chosen  profession.  He  mar- 
ried in  1868  Miss  Isabella  Norton,  of  Nonvich,  and 
since  that  time  his  home  has  been  upon  JMichigan 
avenue,  in  that  great  metropolis  of  the  West,  Chicago. 
There,  for  over  thirt}'^  years,  he  has  managed  \vith  con- 
summate  skill    the    affairs    of    the    most   successful 


OF   THE  JAMES   BLACKSTONE   MEMORIAI,   I^IBRARY.  25 

of  all  the  great  railroads  of  the  West.  Of  him, 
his  character,  his  generosity  and  his  remarkably 
modest,  but  great  ability,  I  am  not  at  liberty  to 
speak  in  this  monograph ;  but  it  is  not  complete 
as  a  memorial  of  James  Blackstone,  unless  I  men- 
tion briefly  the  other  descendants.  The  oldest  son 
of  James  Blackstone,  George,  died  in  1861,  never 
having  been  married.  The  oldest  daughter,  Mary, 
married  Samuel  O.  Plant,  and  one  of  her  daughters, 
Bllen  Plant,  lives  with  her  in  Branford  to-day.  Three 
grandchildren  of  Mrs.  Mary  Blackstone  Plant,  being 
the  children  of  her  daughter  Sara,  are  William  L., 
Paul  W.,  and  Gertrude  P.  Harrison. 

The  second  son  of  James  Blackstone,  Lorenzo 
Blackstone,  who  lived  for  many  years  in  Norwich,  and 
died  there  in  1888,  had  five  children.  The  oldest,  De 
Trafford  Blackstone,  has  one  son  Lorenzo.  The  second 
child  of  Lorenzo  is  Mrs.  Harriet  Blackstone  Camp,  of 
Norwich,  who  has  three  children,  Walter  Trumbull, 
Talcott  Hale,  and  Elizabeth  Norton  Camp.  The 
second  daughter  of  Lorenzo  is  Mrs.  Francis  Ella 
Huntington,  of  Norwich.  The  fourth  child  of  Lorenzo 
Blackstone  is  William  Norton  Blackstone,  of  Nor- 
wich ;  and  his  youngest  son,  Louis  Lorenzo  Black- 
stone, died  in  1893. 

The  second  daughter  of  James  Blackstone,  Ellen, 
married  Henry  B.  Plant,  now  of  New  York  City.  She 
died  in  1861,  leaving  one  son,  Morton  F.  Plant,  who 
is  married  and  has  one  son,  Henry  B.  Plant,  Jr.  James 
Blackstone's  third  son  was  John  Blackstone,  who  died 


26  PROCEEDINGS   AT  THE   PUBLIC   OPENING. 

several  years  ago,  leaving  three  children,  George  and 
Adelaide  Blackstone,  and  Mrs.  Brama  Pond. 

Sir  William  Blackstone,  the  great  authority  upon 
the  common  law  of  England,  was  a  cousin  in  the  fifth 
degree  to  our  James  Blackstone,  and  the  portraits  of 
the  two  men  bear  a  marked  family  resemblance. 

Ten  years  ago  James  Blackstone  passed  to  his 
reward.  His  influence  for  good  still  exists  in  this 
community,  where  the  old  New  England  ideas  are  yet 
strong,  though  modified  by  the  leaven  of  modem  in- 
dustr}^,  education  and  thought.  What  degree  of  pros- 
perity and  growth  may  come  to  this  old  town  in  the 
future,  no  one  can  foretell.  There  is  an  abundance  of 
energy  and  intellect  here  anxious  to  press  forward  in 
the  twentieth  century  in  those  paths  of  intelligence, 
sobriet}'',  morality  and  honest  industry,  which  assure 
good  government  and  happiness  for  all.  The  people 
will  ever  cherish  with  thankfulness  the  example  set 
by  their  New  England  forefathers  in  providing  for  the 
education  of  all  the  children  in  the  common  schools  ; 
but  the  residents  of  this  favored  towm,  for  all  the  gen- 
erations to  come,  will  congratulate  themselves  that 
James  Blackstone  lived  here,  and  gave  to  them  a  son 
whose  affection  for  his  native  town,  and  filial  devotion 
to  his  father's  memory,  led  him  to  place  here  this 
enduring  monument  of  architectural  beauty,  this  ever 
flowing  fountain  of  education,  culture  and  refinement. 


*y  BCi 


BRONZE     ENTRANCE     DOORS. 


ADDRESS 

By  Prof.  ARTHUR  T.  HADI.EY. 

Ladies  and  Gentlevten  : 

Our  President  has  already  described  to  you  the 
founding,  nearly  two  hundred  years  ago,  of  the  first  of 
the  historic  libraries,  not  of  Branford  only,  but  of 
Connecticut.  In  external  circumstances  there  could 
be  no  contrast  more  marked  than  that  between  the 
library  of  1 700  and  the  library  which  we  now  dedicate 
in  1896.  That  was  for  the  founding  of  a  school  which 
has  since  grown  into  a  college  and  a  university.  This 
is  for  the  use  of  an  active  and  stirring  business  com- 
munity. That  was  given  devotedly  out  of  poverty. 
This  is  given  generously  out  of  abundance.  That  had 
but  the  fewest  books  and  appliances  and  the  most  pre- 
carious of  homes.  This  is  admirably  equipped  in 
everything  which  goes  to  make  a  library  a  place  of 
education,  and  has  a  building  of  which  not  only  the 
donor,  not  only  the  town  of  Branford,  but  the  whole 
State  of  Connecticut  may  well  be  proud.  And  yet, 
when  we  look  below  the  surface  we  find  that  the 
two  gifts,  the  two  libraries,  were  animated  by  the 
same  fundamental  purpose,  and   are  a    part    of  that 


28  PROCEEDINGS   AT  THE   PUBLIC  OPENING 

educational  system  of  which  the  people  of  Connecticut 
alwa3^s  have  been  and  always  will  be  proud.     Most  of 
us  can  remember,  amid  the  fragments  of  our  forgotten 
geograph}^  lessons  that  we  learned  a  list  of  products  for 
which  different  states  were  celebrated,  and  if  we  were 
Connecticut  boys  or  girls,  we  learned  with  pride  that 
the  product  in  which  Connecticut  stood  pre-eminent 
was  its  public  schools.     Whatever  monopoly  our  state 
may  have  once  enjoyed  in  this  respect,  is  now  a  thing 
of  the  past.     Means  of  communication  have  been  so 
rapid,  interchange  of  ideas  so  full  and  free,  that  any 
improvements  made  in  the  school  system  of  one  state 
are  rapidly  copied  by  her  neighbors.     But  there  is  a 
^\dder  sense  of  the  word  education  in  which  a  gift  like 
this  enables  Connecticut  to  maintain  to-daj^  a  promi- 
nence like  that  which  she  enjoyed  in  her  school  system 
one   hundred   years  ago,  an  education  which   is  not 
confined  to  the  school,  but  which  lasts  through  life  ;  an 
education  of  men  and  women  as  well   as  of  boys  and 
girls.     Of  education  in  this  sense,  the  library,  the  art 
museum,  and  the  lecture  hall  are  no  less  important 
parts  than  is  a  college  or  a  school. 

But  some  of  you  will,  perhaps,  ask,  "  Is  it  not  a 
narrow  view  to  take  of  the  use  of  the  library,  to  think 
of  it  simply  as  a  place  of  learning  rather  than  as  a 
place  of  enjoyment?"  I  reply,  "No."  So  far  from 
being  a  narrow  view  of  the  library,  to  regard  it  as  an 
educational  force,  it  is  the  very  broadest  view  possible  ; 
for  the  modem  idea  of  education  includes  ever5'thing 
that  goes  to  make  life  worth  living.     It  is  not  as  an 


OP  THE   JAMES    BLACKSTONE   MEMORIAL   I.IBRARY.  29 

exponent  of  the  narrow  view  of  the  use  of  the  lyibrary 
that  I  come  before  you  to-day,  but  as  a  representative 
of  the  broad  view  of  the  use  of  education.  This  is, 
perhaps,  an  opportune  time  to  consider  how  our  con- 
ception of  education  has  widened  in  the  past  fifty  years. 
In  the  first  place  we  have  ceased  to  separate,  as  our 
fathers  once  did,  the  work  of  training  from  the  work  of 
action.  We  have  ceased  to  draw  a  sharp  line  between 
preparation  and  performance.  We  have  come  to  un- 
derstand that  learning  and  doing  are  parts  of  the  same 
thing.  And  in  the  second  place  we  have  come  to  see 
that  it  is  essential  for  the  public  welfare  that  people 
should  learn  to  play  as  well  as  work  ;  that  any  system 
of  education  which  looks  at  one  of  these  things  only 
is  one-sided  and  partial ;  that  the  best  life  is  attained 
by  the  man  who  finds  his  freest  play  in  educational 
work,  his  most  e£B.cient  work  in  enlightened  and  un- 
selfish playing. 

You  will  pardon  me,  I  am  sure,  if  I  delay  a  moment 
to  trace  the  progress  of  the  change,  or  these  two 
changes.  Under  the  old  idea  we  conceived  of  learning 
as  a  preparation  sharply  distinguished  and  separated 
from  the  subsequent  performance.  A  boy  went  to 
school  and  studied  arithmetic  in  his  books,  and  then 
made  use  of  its  application  in  the  counting-room  as 
something  quite  distinct.  He  learned  the  theory  of 
a  few  things  that  he  would  need  to  do  afterward,  and 
then,  when  he  had  finished  his  education,  he  proceeded 
to  put  them  in  practice.  Now,  this  whole  idea  of 
"  finishing  "  an   education  is  one  that  we  are  rapidly 


30  PROCEEDINGS   AT  THE    PUBUC  OPENING 

getting  out  of ;  and  the  sooner  we  get  out  of  it  the 
better.      When    a   man    has    finished    his    education 
he  has  ceased  to  grow ;  and  when  he  has  ceased  to 
grow  he  might  as  well   cease  to  live.     I  think  always 
that  the  best  education   and  the  best  life  go  hand  in 
hand.     Where  did  General  Grant  learn  to  become  a 
military  leader  ?     At  West  Point  ?     A  few  elements 
he  learned  there ;  but  his  really  great  experience  in 
generalship  was  slowly  attained  at  Fort  Donelson  and 
Shiloh  and  Vicksburg  and  at  Chattanooga,  and  these 
contributed  to  make  him  the  final  conqueror  in  the 
war.     Had   he   allowed   his    education    to  cease,  and 
had  he  attempted  to  take  Richmond  with  only  the 
knowledge  which  he  possessed  at  Fort  Donelson,  he 
would  have  failed.  What  is  true  of  the  arts  of  war  is  true 
of  the  arts  of  peace  also.     I  need  not  multiply  instances. 
Every  day  we  come  more  and  more  to  rely  on  practice 
as  the  best  method  of  teaching.     Instead  of  learning 
our  school  work  wholly  from  books,  we  are  putting 
more  action   into  it.     Instead  of  doing  our  life-work 
without  the  aid  of  books,  we  are  basing  it  on  others' 
experience ;  which  can  be  gained  by  reading,  by  the 
use  of  libraries   and  museums,  and  by  every  form  of 
higher  culture.     Under  the  modem  idea  of  life-work, 
education  is  not  a  period  of  training  to  be  ended ;  it  is 
a  method  of  getting  experience,  which  continues  as 
long  as  life  is  worth  living. 

In  this  experience,  play  as  well  as  work  must  have 
its  due  proportion.  A  well-rounded  man  must  learn 
to  play  as  much  as  to  work.     Only  in  the  combination 


OF   THE   JAMES   BI.ACKSTONE    MEMORIAI,   I.IBRARY.  3 1 

of  the  two  things  can  the  community  realize  its  highest 
welfare.  Now  this  is  far  from  the  old  idea  ;  very  far 
indeed.  Our  commonwealth  was  founded  by  men  who, 
for  the  most  part,  made  a  sharp  separation  between  play 
and  work.  I  doubt,  after  what  our  friend,  Mr.  Harri- 
son, has  told  us,  whether  James  Blackstone  himself 
was  a  man  of  that  kind,  for  it  seems  to  me  that  his 
unwillingness  to  live  under  the  tutelage  of  the  "  Lord 
Brethren  "  perhaps  is  allied  to  our  more  modem  view 
of  life.  But  for  the  most  part  the  original  settlers  of 
New  Bngland  were  people  who  thought  much  of  work 
and  little  of  play. 

To  the  Puritan  the  whole  world  was  divided  into  two 
parts  ;  one  trivial,  the  other  immensely  serious.  They 
were  prone  to  relegate  all  sport  and  all  enjoyment  to 
the  former  and  to  think  that  the  concerns  of  the  earn- 
est and  honest  men  all  belonged  to  the  latter.  In  their 
protest  against  the  excesses  of  sport  they  were  prone 
to  condemn  sport  itself ;  as  one  of  their  critics  has 
pithily  said,  "  They  objected  to  bear-baiting,  not 
because  it  gave  pain  to  the  bear,  but  because  it  gave 
pleasure  to  the  spectators." 

Now,  in  early  New  Bngland  there  was  enough  to  be 
done  by  men  like  these.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  say 
anything  against  the  heritage  that  we  have  obtained 
from  our  Puritan  fathers.  They  had  hostile  tribes  to 
conquer ;  they  had  hostile  land  to  conquer,  as  many 
of  their  descendants  can  still  testify  ;  and,  between  the 
two,  small  wonder  that  the  concern  of  the  grown  man 
was  thought  to  be  with  work  rather  than  play.     But 


32  PROCEEDINGS    AT  THE    PUBLIC  OPENING 

we  have  reached  a  point  where  we  can  now  enjoy,  not 
only  the  good  which  they  achieved  and  which  they 
gave  us,  but  a  wider  range  of  good  which  was  impos- 
sible for  them  to  achieve,  but  which  their  work  has 
made  possible  to  their  descendants. 

The  Declaration  of  Independence  proclaims  the 
equal  rights  of  all  men  to  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness.  The  two  first  were  realized  by  our 
fathers.  It  is  because  they  were  realized  by  our  fathers 
that  we  are  to-day  in  a  position  to  go  on  to  the  full 
fruition,  and  to  realize  the  third  for  ourselves  and  for 
our  children.  It  would  have  been  small  honor  to  the 
founders  of  New  England  had  we  used  their  work  as 
a  model  to  imitate  instead  of  a  foundation  to  build 
upon.  They  have  given  us  ideas  of  life  which  furnish 
a  basis  that  has  made  happiness  for  the  people  possi- 
ble. It  is  for  us  to  make  that  general  happiness  a 
reality ;  and  it  is  in  the  work  of  gifts  like  these  gifts, 
like  the  Blackstone  Library,  that  we  may  hope  for 
such  realizations  of  what  is  highest  and  best  in  the 
life  of  America  in  the  future. 

So  much  for  our  ideal  of  education  and  of  life. 
How  are  we  making  progress  toward  the  attainment  of 
this  ideal  ?  This  is  the  question  which  we  may  well 
pause  and  ask  ourselves.  No  single  answer  to  this 
question  will  cover  the  whole  ground.  A  vast  number 
of  things  have  combined  and  are  combining  to  make 
the  diffusion  of  an  enlightened  enjoyment  possible. 
The  improvement  in  manufacturing  has  done  some- 
thing for  it.     Alodem  machinery  has  brought  within 


OP   THK   JAMES    BI.ACKSTONE   MEMORIAL   LIBRARY.  33 

reach  of  hundreds  of  thousands  what  formerly  were 
the  exclusive  possessions  of  the  few.  Modem  machin- 
ery may  have  concentrated  production,  but  it  has 
generalized  consumption ;  it  has  given  to  the  poor 
man  many  comforts  of  which  the  rich  a  hundred 
years  ago  could  hardly  avail  themselves.  Facili- 
ties of  travel  have  done  no  less  than  improvements 
in  manufacturing.  Before  the  invention  of  the  rail- 
road a  journey  was  a  luxury  forbidden  to  all  except 
for  the  few  who  could  travel  by  coach.  To-day  the 
railroad  brings  variety  of  scene  and  variety  of  life 
within  the  reach  of  everyone ;  and  apart  from  those 
facilities  of  travel,  it  makes  a  free  interchange  of  pro- 
ducts between  different  persons  and  different  places 
that  of  itself  makes  life  wider  and  better  worth  living 
than  it  ever  was  before.  The  development  of  national 
sports  and  national  games  has  done  something.  We 
are  long  past  the  time  when  games  and  sports  were 
regarded  as  indulgences  unworthy  of  a  dignified  man. 
Base  ball  has  begun  the  work ;  the  bicycle  has  carried 
it  much  further ;  both  together  have  given  to  us  all 
ideas  of  enlightened  recreation  and  of  the  benefit  to 
be  obtained  from  such  means  of  enjoyment.  The 
diffusion  of  art  work  by  wood-cuts  like  those  of  the 
magazines,  and  the  diffusion  of  literature  at  a  wonder- 
fully cheap  price,  has  had  its  share  in  the  educational 
work. 

All  these  things  will  help  us,  but  they  cannot  do 
everything.     The  progress  of  our  country  must  have 
its  moral  as  well  as  its  aesthetic  side.     We  must  have 
3 


34  PROCEEDINGS  AT  THE   PUBLIC  OPENING 

institutions  about  whicli  an  enlightened  public  senti- 
ment can  crystallize,  so  as  to  prevent  material  progress 
from  hiding  moral  degeneracy ;  institutions  which 
shall  prevent  the  comforts  of  manufacturing  from 
degenerating  into  luxuries ;  which  shall  make  travel 
a  means  of  improvement  instead  of  a  means  of  dissi- 
pation ;  which  shall  make  sports  a  training  to  the  mind 
and  body  rather  than  a  feverish  basis  of  gambling ; 
which  shall  cause  the  art  and  the  literature  furnished 
by  the  periodical  press  to  become  a  means  of  educating 
the  public  rather  than  of  degenerating  into  worthless- 
ness. 

In  such  waj^s  the  work  that  can  be  done  b}^  a  public 
library  is  inestimable.  What  may  we  expect  a  founda- 
tion like  this  to  do  for  the  citizens  of  Branford  ?  What 
should  a  library  do  for  the  people  who  use  it  ? 

In  the  first  place  it  can  give  them  wider  conceptions 
of  enjoyment.  Twenty-five  years  ago  we  used  to  hear 
the  complaint  that  the  American  people  had  no  idea 
of  rational  pleasure ;  that  most  people  associated  the 
idea  of  a  holiday  with  drunkenness  at  least,  if  not  wdth 
breach  of  some  of  the  ten  commandments.  We  have 
passed  out  of  this  stage  of  thought.  The  various 
causes  that  I  have  enumerated  have  taught  the  people 
to  enjoy  themselves  more  rationally  than  the}'  once  did. 
But  much  yet  remains  to  be  done.  Our  enjo3''ment 
may  not  be  as  lawless  and  destructive  as  it  was  a 
generation  ago,  but  it  is  confined  in  rather  narrow 
channels.  For  such  narrowness  the  people  of  Branford 
need  no  longer  have  any  excuse.     The  library  and  the 


OP    THE  JAMES    BI.ACKSTONE   MEMORIAI.   LIBRARY.  35 

art  museum,  and  the  gymnasium  and  the  various 
things  with  which  the  wisdom  of  the  founder  of  this 
library,  and  the  Committee  of  Trustees  who  act  for 
him,  have  endowed  this  town  gives  the  opportunity  of 
enlightened  diversification  of  enjoyment.  It  is  here, 
I  think,  that  the  educational  work  of  the  library  must 
have  its  foundation. 

Some  people  look  with  regret  on  the  statistics  of 
public  libraries,  and  sneer  when  they  see  how  large  a 
part  of  the  reading  is  fiction,  and  how  little  is  a  means 
of  solid  improvement.  I  cannot  sympathize  with  this 
view.  It  seems  to  me  that  in  beginning  with  fiction 
the  community  is  beginning  at  the  right  end.  The 
first  important  thing  in  making  a  public  library  a 
means  of  popular  education,  is  the  certainty  that  it 
will  be  enjoyed.  You  may  be  sure  that  enjoyment  of 
one  book  will  lead  to  enjoyment  of  another ;  that  the 
man  or  woman  who  starts  with  interest  in  a  few  books, 
provided  it  is  a  real  interest,  will  soon  come  to  have 
an  interest  in  many  books,  and  will  in  the  end  accom- 
plish far  more  than  the  one  who  begins  library  work 
with  ideas  of  self-improvement  which  are  too  laborious 
to  carry  out  to  their  completion. 

And  as  surely  as  a  library  fulfills  this  first  function 
as  a  means  of  enjoyment,  it  will  tend  also  to  become  a 
means  of  productive  efficiency.  Bvery  man  or  woman 
works  better  if  he  or  she  knows  how  to  play  rationally. 
If  we  can  use  a  part  of  our  time  for  enlightened  and 
intelligent  enjoyment  instead  of  facing  the  alterna- 
tive, which  has  so  often  stood  before  our  fathers,  of 


36  PROCEEDINGS   AT  THE   PUBLIC  OPENING 

continuous  drudger}-  on  the  one  hand  or  destructive 
and  riotous  amusement  on  the  other,  the  gain  in  pro- 
ductive power  to  the  community  will  be  inestimable. 
As  people  learn  to  use  a  library  they  will  learn  to 
make  their  reading  a  help  in  the  things  that  they  have 
to  do.  They  will  do  better  work  because  the  library 
gives  them  a  means  of  contact,  not  merely  with  the 
methods  of  those  about  them,  but  ^vith  the  methods  of 
all  ages  and  all  countries.  They  will  have  higher 
possibilities  of  achievement  if  their  ambition  is  not 
bounded  by  a  standard  set  by  their  neighbors,  but  is 
inspired  by  the  high  ideals  of  art  and  of  literature. 

IVIore  important  still,  a  foundation  like  this  will 
contribute  to  good  citizenship  as  nothing  else  can.  In 
this  respect  the  library  to-day  stands  where  the  public 
school  stood  a  generation  or  two  ago.  Our  fathers 
established  a  system  of  public  education  because  they 
thought  that  people  who  had  votes  must  know  how  to 
read  and  write  and  understand  the  elements  of  intel- 
lectual life.  As  time  has  gone  on,  the  problems  on 
which  we  have  to  vote  have  become  wider.  We  are  in 
touch  with  more  interests.  The  man  who  can  merely 
read  and  write  has  but  the  beginning  of  fitness  for 
exercising  a  vote,  when  on  the  turn  of  that  vote  may 
hang  the  destinies  of  remote  regions.  To  vote  intel- 
ligently in  our  dealings  with  problems  covering  three 
thousand  miles  of  territory,  we  must  be  in  touch  with 
large  things  and  with  large  men  ;  and  such  touch  can 
be  obtained  only  by  him  who  has  access  to  the  infor- 
mation books  and  libraries  have  placed  within  his  reach. 


OF   THE   JAMES    BLACKSTONE    MEMORIAL  LIBRARY.  37 

In  all  these  three  things,  then,  in  enjoyment,  in 
productive  efficiency  and  in  good  citizenship,  we  may 
regard  the  library  as  an  indispensable  factor. 

Enlightened  Europeans  who  travel  in  the  United 
States  are  often  most  impressed, — not  with  our  scenery, 
grand  as  it  is,  not  with  our  material  prosperity,  enor- 
mous as  has  been  our  advance  in  this  respect ;  not  even 
with  our  political  and  social  system,  which  is  the  most 
wonderful  of  all ;  but  in  the  fact  that  we  can  rely  on 
private  munificence,  on  voluntary  gifts,  for  the  higher 
forms  of  popular  education.  It  is  this  which  strikes 
with  the  utmost  surprise  the  residents  of  the  old  world 
who  have  been  accustomed  to  see  so  much  done  by  the 
government  that  we  do  by  private  initiative.  And  it 
is  this,  perhaps,  more  than  anything  else,  which 
may  lead  us  to  feel  the  assurance  that  freedom  will 
continue  to  make  progress  in  the  future  as  it  has 
done  in  the  past.  It  shows  that  our  rich  men  are  not 
accumulating  wealth  for  their  own  sake,  but  for  the 
sake  of  what  they  can  do  with  it.  It  shows  that  we 
can  rely  on  such  men  to  have  the  public  interests  of 
the  community  rather  than  their  own  personal  power 
or  personal  enjoyment  first  at  heart  and  most  strongly 
in  view  in  the  direction  of  their  lives  and  of  their 
property. 

I  have  regretted  with  the  rest  of  you  that  we  could 
not  have  here  with  us  the  man  to  whom  we  owe  this 
building  and  this  library,  and  yet,  Mr.  President,  I 
can  not  help  feeling  that  his  absence  is  in  the  truest 
and  highest  degree  characteristic  ;  that  the  same  thing 


38  PROCEEDINGS   AT   THE    PUBLIC    OPENING. 

which  made  him  earn  his  wealth  houestly,  and  give 
it  with  far-sighted  public  purpose,  has  made  him 
anxious  to  suppress  rather  than  to  bring  into  promi- 
nence his  own  personalit3\  It  is  in  such  works  as 
this  is  and  in  such  men  as  he  is,  that  we  can  see  the 
fruit,  the  best  fruit,  of  our  institutions.  It  is  in  what 
this  man  has  done,  and  in  what  men  like  him  have 
done  and  shall  do,  that  we  have  the  strongest  assur- 
ances that  our  civilization  is  not  a  failure ;  that  Amer- 
ican freedom  shall  go  on  educating  itself,  educating 
the  world,  and  giving  grander  results,  morall}^  as  well 
as  materially,  than  the  past  has  ever  dreamed. 


LECTURE     ROOM. 


ADDRESS   TO   THE   CHIIvDREN. 

The  Library  :  Branford's  Crown. 

By  the   Rev.    MELVILLE   K.  BAILEY. 

My  Dear  Children  : 

I  have  to  bring  you  a  story  of  a  mother  and  her  son. 
She  came  in  days  long  ago  from  a  beautiful  home 
across  the  ocean,  a  fair  green  island  that  was  skirted 
by  four  stormy  seas ;  but  she  wished  to  go  far  across 
the  ocean  and  find  another  home.  So  she  came,  and 
she  found  another  beautiful  home,  and  builded  her  a 
beautiful  house,  also  by  the  sea.  In  the  course  of 
time  she  had  many  sons,  and  she  loved  all  of  her  sons, 
and  all  of  her  sons  loved  her  and  were  proud  of  her. 
Some  remained  and  tilled  the  beautiful  fields,  and  the 
smooth  green  meadows  about  her  house,  and  some 
went  out  to'  the  seats  of  learning  and  sought  wisdom 
and  became  distinguished,  and  others  went  away  and 
put  their  hand  to  commerce,  and  they  directed  great 
enterprises,  and  they  also  became  distinguished,  and 
their  names  were  widely  known.  At  last  she  had  a 
son  who  went  away  to  a  far  city,  and  he  put  his  hand 
to  commerce,  and  great  enterprises  flowed  from  under 


40  PROCEEDINGS  AT   THE    PUBLIC    OPENING 

his  touch,  and  his  fellow  citizens  were  ver}'  proud  of 
him,  and  they  put  man}'  rewards  into  his  hands,  and 
they  honored  him.  After  a  time  it  came  into  his  heart 
to  return  and  see  his  mother ;  so  he  came  and  visited 
her,  and  saw  her  beautiful  house  by  the  sea,  and  saw 
how  proud  she  was  of  him,  and  he  said  I  will  make 
her  a  beautiful  crown.  So  he  called  together  the  wise 
artificers  of  the  land,  and  he  bade  them  to  make  the 
most  beautiful  crown  which  their  hand  could  fashion  : 
that  it  should  be  as  white  as  the  driven  snow ;  that  it 
should  be  decorated  with  jewels  and  with  gold ;  and 
then  he  would  set  this  crown  so  that  his  mother  would 
be  honored  by  all  who  came  that  way. 

Now,  children,  do  you  ask  me  who  is  the  mother, 
and  who  is  the  son,  and  what  is  the  crown  ?  I  answer, 
when  you  go  out  of  the  doors  this  da}'',  when  you  pass 
out  of  these  beautiful  bronze  doors,  look  about  and 
you  will  see  the  mother,  for  our  native  town  is  the 
mother  of  all  who  are  bom  within  her  limits.  This 
is  the  beautiful  mother,  with  a  beautiful  home,  who 
long  ago  came  from  her  old  home  across  the  sea,  and 
built  this  house  by  a  more  beautiful  sea,  and  has  lived 
here  for  many  3'ears,  and  has  had  many  sons  who 
have  brought  her  distinction,  and  who  have  honored 
her  by  their  deeds.  And  I  need  not  remind  3'ou  that 
the  son  of  whom  I  speak  is  that  man  who  this  day 
gives  to  this  town  this  beautiful  building ;  and  I  need 
not  remind  you  that  the  crown  is  the  building  itself. 
If  you  have  not  thought  of  the  crown,  think  of  the 
hill  on  which  it  stands,  and  how  it  crowns  all  of  this 


OF  THE   JAMES    BLACKSTONE   MEMORIAL   LIBRARY.  41 

fair  town  by  the  sea  ;  and  look  about  and  see  there  the 
crown  over  your  heads  ;  the  paintings  which  are  like 
jewels  ;  the  gilded  ornaments  which  are  like  the  gold 
of  a  crown. 

And  so,  to-day,  Mr.  Blackstone  has  crowned  the 
•  town  of  his  nativity  with  an  honor  and  a  distinction 
which  will  be  hers  as  long  as  these  marble  walls  shall 
stand.  And  this  day,  children,  is  the  crowning  of  all 
the  best  days  that  have  come  to  Branford  before  this 
time.  There  have  been  many  days  of  distinction; 
every  day  when  a  town  or  the  citizens  of  a  town  do  a 
great  and  noble  deed  is  a  day  of  crowning  the  town 
with  honor;  it  was  a  day  of  distinction  when  our 
fathers  first  came,  and  in  their  courage  and  by  their 
resolution  founded  this  village  by  the  sea.  It  was  a 
day  of  distinction  when  our  fathers  spoke  for  freedom, 
for  liberty  ;  when  they  declared  that  they  were  willing 
to  lay  down  their  lives  in  order  that  we  might  possess 
the  blessings  of  a  free  country.  It  was  a  day  of  dis- 
tinction when,  for  the  sake  of  others,  the  sons  of  Bran- 
ford  went  out  and  were  willing  to  lay  down  their  lives, 
and  some  did  lay  down  their  lives,  on  the  field  of  battle 
for  the  freedom  of  their  fellow  men.  Those  were  days 
of  honor  and  distinction  when  our  industries  were 
founded.  When  all  these  deeds  were  done  they  were 
days  of  honor;  they  were  days  of  distinction.  But 
this  day  is  the  crowning  of  them  all,  for  this  day 
represents  the  finest  things  which  can  come  into 
human  lives.  We  do  not  labor  for  the  sake  of  labor 
itself.     We  do  not  make  war  for  the  sake  of  making 


42  PROCEEDINGS   AT  THE    PUBLIC    OPENING 

war,  for  the  sake  of  taking  other  men's  lives  or  laying 
down  our  lives  ourselves.  All  of  these  things  are 
done  for  the  sake  of  something  else.  The  town  was 
founded,  not  merely  because  men  loved  to  sail  across 
the  sea ;  the  war  of  the  revolution  was  not  merely  that 
men  might  die  and  that  they  might  strive ;  our  in- 
dustries are  not  founded  merely  that  we  may  live,  that 
we  may  have  our  daily  food ;  there  are  things  more 
honorable  than  all  these  which  are  the  crowning  of 
life,  and  it  is  these  which  this  library  represents.  It 
is  distinguished  and  it  is  beautiful,  and  this  day  is  a 
distinction  and  is  a  crown,  because  the  library  is 
dedicated  to  learning  and  to  art ;  and  it  is  learning 
which  crowTis  life  with  power  and  crowns  it  with 
honor ;  and  it  is  art,  it  is  the  arts  of  life,  which  crown 
it  with  joy. 

And  so,  of  all  the  notable  days  which  Branford  has 
had  before  this  time,  this  is  the  crowning  day  of  all, 
that  which  gives  it  its  greatest  distinction. 

And  now,  children,  we  may  learn  the  same  lesson 
as  we  look  about  the  building  and  study  its  parts.  I 
wonder  how  man}'  children  have  studied  the  plan,  the 
ground  plan  of  the  library,  and  have  thought  of  the 
outside  of  it  and  what  it  all  represents.  If  you  ha^-e 
not,  just  think  with  me  for  a  moment  while  I  describe 
to  you  what  the  ground  plan  is,  the  idea  which  is  ex- 
pressed by  these  walls  of  marble  and  this  soaring 
dome ;  if  3'ou  take  the  plan  and  study  it  you  find  first 
there  is  a  Latin  cross.  Now  the  cross  alwaj^s  stands 
for  painful  toil ;  it  always  stands  for  the  utmost  labor 


STAIR    CASE. 


OF  THE   JAMES   BLACKSTONE   MEMORIAI<  I^IBRARY.  43 

whicli  man  can  do  with  body,  soul  and  mind  ;  it  stands 
for  the  greatest  sacrifice  which  we  can  make  for  the 
sake  of  some  noble  deeds ;  the  cross,  not  for  itself,  as 
war  and  industry  not  for  themselves,  but  the  cross  for 
the  sake  of  something  else.  And  the  Latin  cross 
stands,  then,  first  of  all,  for  this  labor,  for  this  looking 
fonvard  to  some  achievement,  for  this  painful  toil. 
There  is  the  Latin  cross,  which  is  the  cross  of  the 
west;  and  the  keynote  of  the  west  is  power  and 
authority  and  order.  And  so  the  Latin  cross  in  this 
building  stands  for  effort  directed  by  power  and 
order  and  authority  laboring  for  some  great  end. 
Men  ruling  themselves,  and  so  ruling  others,  and  so 
ruling  and  conquering  the  world.  That  is  the  first 
thing  then;  the  basis  of  this  building  is  the  Latin 
cross. 

But  as  you  look  a  little  further  and  observe  the 
lines,  you  will  see  there  is  enlaced  with  it  and  laid 
upon  it  a  Greek  cross  ;  and  what  does  the  Greek  cross 
stand  for  ?  It  stands  also  for  effort,  for  self-sacrifice, 
for  the  sake  of  some  achievement  that  is  to  come 
after ;  but  it  stands  for  particular  things  as  well ;  the 
Greek  cross  stands  for  light  and  aspiration.  Wherever 
you  see  that  gift  from  the  East,  the  far  Bast,  there  is 
always  the  thought  of  light,  of  the  soul  having  an 
illumination,  of  truth,  of  aspiration,  looking  up  to 
the  heavens  and  aspiring  to  all  noble  things. 

And  so,  enlaced  with  this  Latin  cross  and  laid  upon 
it,  is  the  Greek  cross ;  and  there  we  have  the  mean- 
ing of  effort,  of  labor,  of  self-sacrifice ;  first,  in  power 


44  PROCEEDINGS    AT   THE   PUBLIC   OPENING 

and  order  and  authority,  and  tlien  in  light  and  illumi- 
nation and  aspiration. 

And  now,  as  we  study  a  little  more,  what  else  do 
we  find  on  the  ground  plan  ?  We  find  the  circle,  and 
as  we  look  at  the  library  from  the  outside,  and  as  we 
come  within  and  look  again  at  this  beautiful  and  noble 
and  splendid  dome,  we  find  that  there  is  the  crown. 
That,  my  dear  children,  is  the  meaning  of  this  whole 
building ;  the  Latin  cross  of  power  enlaced  with  the 
Greek  cross  of  light  and  intelligence  and  illumination, 
surmounted  by  the  crown  of  aspiration  and  achievement. 

And  so  there  is  wrought  into  this  building  all  the 
meaning  of  the  great  civilizations  of  Europe  since  the 
times  of  history  began.  They  are  expressed  here  as 
if  they  were  crystallized  into  some  perpetual  and 
beautiful  shape  which  would  teach  their  lesson  to  all 
that  came  after,  and  that  represents  the  da}'  and  the 
time  and  the  deed.     The  labor  is  all  over. 

For  many  years  the  sons  of  Branford,  the  citizens 
of  this  town,  have  toiled  and  desired  that  their 
village  should  be  crowned  with  some  distinction  ;  that 
it  might  have  something  splendid  and  noble  which 
would  make  it  famous  through  all  this  land ;  that  it 
might  possess  something  which  would  be  worth  the 
while  of  an}'-  man  to  come  across  the  sea  to  behold. 
They  have  thought  about  it ;  they  have  labored  for 
it ;  they  have  passed  through  all  the  times  of  indus- 
try and  of  self-sacrifice,  and  at  last  the  deed  is  done, 
and  done,  children,  by  Branford.  Never  forget  that. 
Never  think  or  feel  as  if  it  were  a  missionary  field 


OF   THE  JAMES    BLACKSTONE    MEMORIAL,   I^IBRARY.  45 

which  had  a  gift  brought  from  outside.  It  was  Bran- 
ford's  own  son,  who  here  first  breathed  his  native 
air ;  whose  fathers  lived  here,  and  whose  names 
already  had  crowned  the  town  with  honor ;  it  was 
Branford's  own  son  who  went  out  and  gave  good  gifts 
and  did  good  deeds  for  other  people,  and  who  then,  with 
the  rewards  which  they  gave  him  for  what  he  had 
worthily  wrought  for  them,  came  to  express  his  pride 
in  his  own  native  village,  by  erecting  this  beautiful 
building  in  which  to-day  we  are  met. 

This,  then,  is  the  crown  of  honor  of  our  village  of 
all  the  days  that  have  passed  before, — not  the  only 
one,  but  the  crowning  crown  of  all. 

I  spoke  of  the  meaning :  briefly  let  us  think  what 
it  means  to  us ;  if  I  were  to  ask  you  what  the  name 
of  this  building  is  you  would  say  "  The  James 
Blackstone  Memorial  Library."  It  is  a  library,  but 
it  is  more  than  a  library  ;  it  is  not  intended  that  the 
life  which  shall  go  on  here  of  those  who  meet  and 
assemble  shall  be  limited  to  books.  It  is  not  simply 
a  house  where  you  may  come  and  find  things  to 
read;  it  is  more  than  that.  As  we  go  into  the 
assembly  hall  we  find  there  opportunities  for  lec- 
tures, for  music,  which  means  that  we  shall  assemble 
socially  for  the  highest  forms  of  social  art.  The 
rotunda  itself,  and  the  paintings  and  the  rooms  about 
it  express  pure  art,  and  the  library  has  an  equal  part 
with  all  the  rest. 

And  so  it  is  a  building  of  rejoicing  and  of  joy  in 
the  social  life,  in  all  the  opportunities  in  which  it  may 


46  PROCEEDINGS   AT   THE    PUBLIC   OPENING 

most  nobly  exhibit  itself  in  the  village  life.  It  is  the 
library  and  more  than  the  library ;  it  is  the  common 
home  of  beauty  for  all  the  people  of  this  town. 

A  crown  has  jewels,  and  there  is  one  peculiar  thing 
about  this  crown  :  When  the  Czar  of  Russia  or 
any  other  king  is  crowned,  the  jewels  are  placed  on 
the  outside  of  the  crown,  but  in  this  crown  the  jewels 
are  within  ;  the  jewels  are  mthin  the  dome ;  each  pic- 
ture there  is  a  gem  of  a  most  beautiful  art ;  the  dec- 
oration is  as  the  ornamentation  on  the  outside  of  a 
crown ;  and  it  signifies  that  we  must  look  within  ; 
that  we  must  search  and  must  labor  and  must  toil  if 
we  would  find  the  gems  which  are  stored  here.  That 
is  signified,  too,  by  the  wisdom  and  truth  which  are 
stored  within  the  books,  which  are  to  be  had  only  by 
labor ;  which  are  stored  awa}^  and  concealed  within ; 
which  are  not  evident  from  without ;  but  for  which 
we  must  give  labor  and  toil.  For,  children,  just  as 
surely  as  many  long  days  and  years  of  labor  went 
into  the  making  of  this  building,  which  is  the  crown 
of  the  village  life,  so  surely  if  we  would  crown  our- 
selves with  wisdom  and  with  truth  and  with  learning, 
we  must  labor  and  toil  in  the  books  and  in  the  life 
wherein  those  are  contained. 

And  now,  children,  I  hope  that  this  day  will  be  a 
day  in  your  memories  which  will  never  pass  away ; 
that  there  will  linger  a  thought  of  this  great  achieve- 
ment, of  this  great  deed  which  has  been  done  here  ; 
that  all  its  meaning  will  sink  into  your  minds  ;  that 
it  wiirbe  appreciated  to  the   full ;  that  you  will  use 


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OP   THE   JAMES   BI<ACKSTONE    MEMORIAL  LIBRARY.  47 

it  again  and  again  and  again ;  that  day  after  day  you 
will  come  liere,  and  these  lessons  and  these  influences 
of  beautiful  art  will  sink  into  your  minds  ;  and  so 
you  will  grow  more  and  more  beautiful  in  your  souls 
as  you  receive  these  influences,  these  treasures,  from 
this  building  here. 

And  finally,  children,  shall  we  not  also  bring  a 
crown  this  day  ?  A  crown  has  been  given  to  us  ;  a 
crown  has  been  given  to  the  town  ;  it  is  a  crown  for  you 
for  the  honor  of  your  childhood.  Shall  we  not  render 
the  crown  of  gratitude,  the  crown  of  honor,  the  crown 
of  praise,  the  crown  of  affection  to  the  noble  son  of 
Branford  who,  this  day,  on  his  mother's  brow  lays 
a  crown  which  is  so  rich  and  so  beautiful  ? 


DESCRIPTION    OF    BRANFORD   LIBRARY 
BUILDING. 


BY   THK   ARCHITECT. 


The  library  grounds,  which  are  of  ample  size,  occupy  a  cen- 
tral and  commanding  point  on  the  main  street. 

The  building  is  designed  in  the  purest  Grecian  Ionic  style  ; 
the  architectural  details  being  taken  from  the  beautiful 
Erechtheion  of  the  Athenian  Acropolis.  The  exterior,  includ- 
ing the  roof  of  the  dome,  is  entirely  of  Tennessee  marble  of  a 
very  light  tone. 

The  main  front,  the  principal  feature  of  which  is  a  beautiful 
colonnade  of  fluted  Ionic  columns  of  marble,  is  toward  the 
south.  Back  of  the  colonnade  and  extending  its  full  length  is 
an  open  loggia,  reached  by  a  broad  flight  of  marble  steps. 
Over  this  portico  is  a  Greek  attic  story  with  pediment.  The 
central  portion  of  the  building  is  two  stories  high,  dominated 
by  a  graceful  low  dome  of  marble.  Flanking  this  central 
mass  on  the  west  and  east  are  two  circular  one  story  and 
basement  wings,  containing  respectively  the  stack  room  and 
main  reading  room. 

The  extreme  outside  dimensions  of  the  building  are  162  by 
129  feet,  the  plan  approximating  the  form  of  a  I^atin  cross. 

The  construction  of  the  building  is  of  the  most  permanent 
character,  and  is  fire-proof  throughout,  steel  beams,  tile 
arches  and  partitions,  being  used. 

In  the  basement  is  located  the  boiler  room,  heating  appara- 
tus, store  rooms,  gymnasium,  bath  rooms,  etc. 

The  main  floor  is  devoted   to  the  lecture  hall,   librarian's 
room,  students'  rooms,  reading  room  and  stack  or  book  room. 
This  floor  is  approached  from  the  outside  by  a  flight  of  marble 
4 


50  PROCEEDINGS   AT  THE    PUBLIC   OPENING 

steps  39  feet  wide,  terminating  at  a  deeply  recessed  loggia 
back  of  the  Ionic  colonnade.  Passing  this  loggia  and  through 
a  spacious  marble  vestible,  the  rotunda  or  central  feature  of 
the  building  is  reached.  The  massive  main  entrance  doors 
are  of  pure  bronze,  of  rich  design  and  weigh  nearly  2,000 
pounds. 

The  rotunda  is  octagonal  in  form,  and  the  various  depart- 
ments, such  as  reading  room,  lecture  hall,  stack  room,  etc., 
are  centered  on  the  axial  lines  radiating  from  the  center  of  the 
rotunda.  The  rotunda  is  44  feet  in  diameter  and  is  paved 
with  a  fine  marble  mosaic  floor,  made  from  a  special  design  in 
Paris.  The  walls,  piers,  arches  and  entablature  of  the 
rotunda  are  entirely  of  polished  marble. 

The  dome  which  covers  this  rotunda  is  embellished  with 
large  paintings,  illustrating  the  history  or  evolution  of  book 
making.  These  pictures  are  set  in  panels  and  are  each  about 
6  by  9  feet.  Their  respective  titles  are  "Gathering  the 
Papyrus,"  "Records  of  the  Pharaohs,"  "Stories  from  the 
Iliad,"  "Mediaeval  Illumination,"  "Venetian  Copper-plate 
Printing,"  "First  Proof  of  Guttenberg  Bible,"  "Franklin 
Press,"  and  a  "Book  Bindery,  1895."  The  paintings  are  the 
work  of  the  well  known  artist,  Oliver  Dennett  Grover  of 
Chicago.  Mr.  Grover  has  also  painted  the  medallion  portraits 
of  New  England  authors,  placed  in  the  marble  spandrills  be- 
tween the  arches.  These  portraits  are  of  Longfellow,  Holmes, 
Hawthorne,  Lowell,  Whittier,  Bryant,  Emerson  and  Mrs. 
Stowe.  The  large  dome  paintings  are  framed  in  the  richly 
ornamented  and  gilded  ribs  of  the  dome.  The  rotunda  is 
lighted  from  an  ornamental  skylight  forming  the  eye  of  the 
dome.     The  extreme  height  of  the  dome  from  floor  is  fifty  feet. 

Opening  ofi"  the  rotunda  to  the  right  as  you  enter  is  the 
main  reading  room,  38  feet  wide  and  40  feet  long,  one  end 
being  circular  in  form.  In  the  handsome  fire-place  hangs  a 
portrait  of  Hon.  James  Blackstone,  father  of  the  donor  of 
the  building.  This  room  is  floored  with  marble  mosaic  and 
finished  in  oak. 

Opening  ofi"  this  reading  room  are  two  students'  rooms 
communicating  with  the  central  rotunda.  The  furniture  of 
these  rooms  is  from  the  architect's  designs  and  is  of  white  oak, 
to  correspond  with  the  finish  of  the  rooms. 


OF   the;  JAMES    BI.ACKSTONE    MEMORIAL    LIBRARY.  5 1 

To  the  left  of  the  rotunda  and  directly  opposite  the  reading 
room  is  the  stack  or  book  room.  This  room  is  the  same  in 
dimensions  as  the  reading  room,  and  corresponds  to  it  in  form. 
In  the  circular  end  the  book  stacks  are  placed,  and  set  radiat- 
ing from  a  common  center.  The  book  stacks  are  of  iron,  of 
rustless  finish,  and  are  two  stories  in  height.  The  floor  of  the 
second  story  or  gallery  is  of  slate  and  is  reached  by  a  central 
staircase  of  marble. 

Off  the  stack  room  are  the  librarian's  room  and  the  catalogue 
room,  both  of  which  communicate  with  the  rotunda.  The 
floors  of  all  these  rooms  are  laid  with  marble  mosaic. 

The  librarian's  room  is  provided  with  a  fire-proof  vault. 

Opening  from  the  central  rotunda  to  the  north  is  the  stair- 
case hall,  and  vestibule  to  lecture  room.  The  walls  and  ceiling 
of  the  hall  are  entirely  finished  in  polished  marble.  The 
stairs  to  the  second  story  and  basement  are  of  solid  marble 
built  self-supporting  on  the  arch  principle. 

The  architraves  of  all  door-ways,  of  halls,  rotunda  and 
vestibules  are  richly  moulded  and  carved. 

The  lecture  room  opens  from  this  hall.  It  is  finished  in 
antique  white  oak,  richly  paneled  and  carved  to  a  height  of  16 
feet  all  around  the  room.  The  platform  is  set  in  a  circular 
niche  with  an  arched  ceiling,  and  provided  with  retiring  rooms 
on  each  side.  The  lecture  room  is  50  feet  long  and  40  feet 
wide,  and  its  ceiling  of  elliptical  form  and  paneled,  the  spring 
line  of  arch  being  from  top  of  wainscotted  walls.  The  room  is 
well  lighted  by  large  windows  in  the  side  walls.  The  seating 
capacity  is  350  for  main  floor  and  50  for  gallery. 

The  second  story  of  the  building  is  reached  by  the  marble 
staircase  already  referred  to.  At  the  head  of  stairs  and  open- 
ing to  the  right  is  the  entrance  to  the  lecture  hall  gallery. 
Immediately  in  front  is  the  trustees'  room,  and  to  the  left  the 
hall  opens  on  the  octagonal  corridor  surrounding  and  over- 
looking the  rotunda.  The  rotunda  side  of  the  corridor  is 
protected  by  a  marble  balustrade  and  is  surrounded  b)'-  eight 
marble  arches,  springing  from  the  balustrade  level,  and  sup- 
porting the  dome.  From  this  corridor  and  through  the  arches 
the  best  view  of  the  dome  paintings  is  obtained.  Opening  off 
the  rotunda  corridor  are  three  rooms  which  may  be  used  for 
art  galleries.    With  these  are  connected  ladies'  and  gentlemen's 


52  PROCEEDINGS    AT   THE    PUBLIC    OPENING. 

parlors  and  toilet  rooms.  All  the  floors  are  laid  with  marble 
mosaic  and  antique  oak  is  used  for  finish. 

The  toilet  rooms  throughout  the  building  are  floored  with 
marble  mosaic  and  wainscotted  with  marble,  and  the  plumbing 
is  of  the  best  modern  sanitary  character,  all  pipes  exposed  and 
nickel-plated. 

The  building  is  heated  b}'  a  combination  of  indirect  and 
direct  systems.  All  radiator  screens  and  registers  are  of  solid 
bronze  from  special  designs.  The  staircase  balustrades  and 
finishing  hardware  are  also  of  solid  bronze. 

All  of  the  windows  are  glazed  with  plate  glass. 

The  hght  fixtures  are  of  bronze  of  graceful  design,  and 
arranged  for  both  gas  and  electric  light. 

The  decorations  of  the  various  rooms  are  in  harmonious 
colors,  in  plain  tints. 

The  construction  of  the  dome  is  of  the  most  substantial 
character,  being  built  of  solid  concrete  and  roofed  with  marble 
eight  inches  thick. 

The  architect  of  the  building  is  S.  S.  Beman  of  Chicago. 


I 


DESCRIPTION  OF    THE   PAINTINGS  IN 
THE  DOME. 


BY   THE   ARTIST. 


In  the  decorations  of  the  dome  it  is  designed  to  illustrate 
pictorially  and  in  a  decorative  way  the  evolution  of  book- 
making.  The  first  step  in  this  direction  is  presumed  to  be 
the  gathering  of  Egyptian  papyrus  with  a  view  to  pro- 
viding materials  for  scroll  inscriptions,  which  may  be  regarded 
as  the  primitive  book-making  of  the  earliest  time.  This  first 
picture  of  the  series  of  eight  is  entitled  ' '  Gathering  the 
Papyrus. ' ' 

The  palm,  the  tall  heavy  reeds  and  the  simply  attired  figures 
in  the  foreground  show  almost  in  silhouette  against  a  warm 
sky  and  the  reflecting  surface  of  the  river  at  the  back,  while  in 
the  distance  rising  from  the  level  plain  are  pyramids  tipped 
with  gold  by  the  rays  of  the  declining  sun. 

"Records  of  the  Pharaohs,"  the  second  of  the  series  and  also 
Egyptian,  shows  another  phase  of  that  civilization  in  the 
massive  architecture,  the  emblematic  ornamentation,  the  calm 
dignity  and  consciousness  of  power  of  the  dominant  race. 

The  picture  represents  an  officer  of  the  court  of  Pharaoh  with 
an  attendant  guard  by  his  side  dictating  from  a  papyrus  roll 
which  lies  open  across  his  knees,  to  a  worker  who  is  transfer- 
ing  the  records  to  the  base  of  a  monument.  While  in  this 
panel  sufficient  license  has  been  taken  to  preserve  the  artistic 
harmony  and  decorative  composition,  the  detail  of  character, 
costume,  ornament  and  architecture  is  carefully  studied  and 
accurately  rendered  from  correct  and  acknowledged  authorities. 

Number  three,  ' '  Stories  of  the  Iliad, ' '  carries  us  from  the 
land  of  the  lotus  to  the  shadow  of  the  Acropolis.     In  the  land 


54  PROCEEDINGS   AT   THE    PUBLIC   OPENING 

of  the  ancient  Greek  those  legends  and  stories  finally  gathered 
together  and  preserved  to  us  by  Homer  in  the  form  of  the  Iliad 
were  for  ages  almost  sung  by  wandering  minstrels  ;  committed 
to  memory  and  transmitted  from  one  to  another,  from  father  to 
son,  from  generation  to  generation. 

The  incident  taken  to  illustrate  this  period  of  literary  devel- 
opment is  that  of  a  minstrel  reciting  to  an  interested  group  of 
listeners  ' '  Stories  from  the  Iliad, ' '  while  one  of  them,  a  Greek 
youth  with  stylus  and  tablet,  is  transcribing  to  enduring  form 
the  words  as  they  fall  from  his  lips. 

In  "Mediaeval  illumination"  is  illustrated  the  illumination 
of  books  by  white-robed  monks.  In  the  soft  tones  of  the 
picture  and  the  quiet  earnestness  of  the  three  figures  are  sug- 
gested the  infinite  patience  of  those  who,  counting  time  as 
naught  in  living  for  eternity,  left  the  world  richer  than  they 
found  it  by  the  exquisite  art  which,  in  passing,  paved  the  w-ay 
for  much  that  is  best  in  what  followed  it. 

In  "  Venetian  Copper-plate  Printing  "  is  shown  the  begin- 
ning of  the  modern  tendency  towards  mechanical  reproduction. 
In  comparison  with  ancient  methods  it  was  an  extremely  rapid 
and  labor-saving  wa}^  of  working.  Printing  from  engraved  or 
etched  plates  with  the  clumsy  hand  press  w^as  very  early 
brought  to  a  high  state  of  perfection  and  for  certain  kinds  of 
work  has  never  been  superseded,  nor  indeed  materially 
improved  upon. 

The  next  important  point  in  the  development  of  the  book  is 
taken  to  be  the  introduction  of  movable  type,  and  the  sixth 
panel  supposes  the  instant  when  the  German  inventor,  Guten- 
berg, inspects  the  first  proof  of  the  now  famous  Gutenberg 
Bible  as  it  is  handed  him  by  his  assistant.  His  interest  and 
anxiety  is  shared  by  the  wife  who  stands  at  his  side,  and  who, 
it  maj'  be  believed,  was  equally  anxious  with  him  for  the 
success  of  the  undertaking.  The  picturesque  garb  of  the  time 
and  the  quaint  details  of  the  interior  give  local  color  and 
artistic  life  to  the  composition. 

The  scene  of  the  seventh  picture  is  laid  in  America  and  sup- 
poses a  printing  room  in  which  two  men  dressed  in  the  costume 
of  Colonial  times  are  operating  what  is  known  as  the  ' '  Frank- 
lin Press,"  an  improvement  on  the  old-time  machines  of 
Gutenberg  and  his  contemporaries. 


OP   THE  JAMES    BLACKSTONE   MEMORIAIv   LIBRARY.  55 

In  front  of  the  low  broad  window  at  the  back  of  the  room  is 
seated  a  man  at  a  table  correcting  proof  and  in  the  foreground 
lies  a  pile  of  books. 

The  strong  daylight  from  the  partially  draped  window 
touching  only  the  outlines  of  the  figures,  throws  them  in  strong 
relief  against  the  warm  grey  of  the  background,  and  a  glimpse 
of  sunny  sky  and  trees  seen  through  the  small  panes,  gives  a 
strong  note  of  light  and  color  to  the  scene. 

The  eighth  and  last  picture  deals  entirely  with  that  part  of 
book-making  which  may  be  and  often  does  amount  to  a  fine 
art  in  itself.  But  the  dress  of  most  modern  books  is  put  on 
amid  the  buzzing  of  wheels  and  the  clicking  of  machinery. 
Such  a  bindery  is  here  represented  as  far  as  the  artistic 
necessities  would  permit  realistic  representation. 

Shafts,  pulleys  and  belts,  steam  and  electricity  would  hardly 
seem  hopeful  materials  from  which  to  build  a  decorative  com- 
position, but  a  careful  adjustment  of  tones  and  arrangement  of 
lines,  together  with  its  pictorial  illustration  of  the  subject,  "  A 
Book  Bindery — 1895,"  brings  it  into  harmony  with  its  neigh- 
bors and  makes  it  a  fitting  ending  to  the  series. 

The  paintings  are  the  work  of  Oliver  Dennett  Grover,  of 
Chicago, 


o«..^.       University  of  California 
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405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 
Return  this  material  to  the  library 
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